The Giving Block was launched in 2018 by Pat Duffy and Alex Wilson. The company serves as a contribution platform for nonprofit groups looking to raise money in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin for their various goals. Duffy and Wilson learned that cryptocurrencies were taxed in the same way as stocks when the price of Bitcoin skyrocketed in late 2017. As a result, gifts of valued cryptocurrencies given to NGOs were exempt from capital gains tax.
The Giving Block began as a consulting company with the mission of informing nonprofit organizations about cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. They established “Bitcoin Tuesday,” a cryptocurrency version of “Giving Tuesday,” in 2019 and soon started raising about $50,000 each day for different NGOs. Years later, they were able to raise more than $1 million using several cryptocurrencies.
At the moment, Duffy serves as managing director of BlockShop DC, an events venue and workshop situated in Washington, D.C. that specializes on developing blockchain solutions. Duffy, though, had an intriguing beginning in a different industry before moving into blockchain: pharmaceuticals. He has years of expertise working as a consultant for a number of pharmaceutical firms, primarily concentrating on teaming up with charities. Duffy was inspired to switch to the nonprofit sector by his experience working with them. Before deciding to devote all of his time to The Giving Block, he served as the integration director for the Lupus Foundation of America, Inc.
2023
The 2023 Annual Report on Crypto Philanthropy was produced by The donating Block, the cryptocurrency and stock donating platform that powers this movement. Over 1,000 nonprofit organizations (NPOs) joined the fundraising platform for the second year in a row, demonstrating the growth in popularity of crypto fundraising despite the challenging year for cryptocurrency prices. The research makes sense of the philanthropic crypto community, which has donated over $125 million to charitable organizations through The Giving Block.
The analysis predicts over $10 billion in cryptocurrency donations on their platform alone over the next ten years by combining years of giving data with over a decade of Bitcoin price action. The following are noteworthy conclusions from The 2023 Annual Report on Crypto Philanthropy:
In 2022, a record 1,052 NGOs started using The Giving Block to accept cryptocurrency.
Crypto donations reached a record $125 million on The Giving Block in 2022.
The average amount of cryptocurrency donations received by each NGO on the site was $26,000. For the first time, USD Coin (USDC) becomes the most popular cryptocurrency donation option, accounting for 44% of all donations.
Due to NFT fundraisers, Ethereum is now the second-most given cryptocurrency at 24%.
After Ethereum (ETH) for the second year in a row, Bitcoin (BTC) drops to the third most given cryptocurrency at 17%.
Vitalik Buterin, a co-founder of Ethereum, contributed $9.4 million, the highest cryptocurrency gift of the year, through his charitable foundation.
2022
The Giving Block and two other charity received a combined $38,000 from NFT Paris, according to a recent tweet from the company. Through a charity auction among NFT artists and collectors, money was raised.
The Giving Block also co-hosted #Empower2022, a free online conference for nonprofits and charities, with the intention of empowering organizations by educating them about cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, and useful tools to aid in achieving their objectives. One of the speakers at the occasion was Alex Wilson, co-founder of The Giving Block.
Duffy’s recent Twitter inactivity suggests he’s working behind the scenes at The Giving Block to forge new alliances with diverse organizations and strengthen current ones in an effort to inspire donors. As a result, The Giving Block anticipates expanding their reach in 2022, which is anticipated to be another important year for the organization’s objective.
Latest news about Pat Duffy
Umoja Foundation, a web3 philanthropic initiative, is set to release its inaugural charity NFT collection on November 28, combining web3 technology and philanthropy. The NFTs, created through generative art, will directly support the welfare of the Dasom Ministries Orphanage in Uganda. The collection will consist of 250 unique artworks, each priced at approximately $100 USD in Ethereum. Any resale proceeds will fund the foundation’s ongoing initiatives.
Blockchain firm Fhenix has raised $7 million in a seed funding round led by Multicoin Capital and Collider Ventures. The funding will be used to develop the Fhenix Network, which is set to release on the public testnet in early 2021. Fhenix aims to create the first confidential smart contract platform using fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), which enables direct computation over encrypted data while safeguarding the confidentiality of underlying information. The company aims to revolutionize application development within the Ethereum ecosystem by introducing data encryption and encrypted-data computation to smart contracts, transactions, and on-chain assets.
